Geography Overview
As part of our Creative Curriculum, Geography is taught during the Spring Term. Each Year Group Page will highlight the content taught for this subject during the Spring Term.
Geography's Mission Statement at Ley Top Primary School
Geography is challenging, motivating, topical and fun. In our ever-growing, diverse society children need, more than ever before, to understand other people and cultures. Through geography at Ley Top Primary School we aim to prepare young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to make sense of their world and to face the challenges that shape our societies and environments at the local, national and global scale.
Geography's Aims at Ley Top Primary School
Geography teaches an understanding of places and environments. The aims of geography are:
- to enable children to gain knowledge and understanding of places in the world;
- to increase children’s knowledge of other cultures and, in so doing, teach a respect and understanding of what it means to be a positive citizen in a multi-cultural country;
- to allow children to learn graphic skills, including how to use, draw and interpret maps;
- to enable children to know and understand environmental problems at a local, regional and global level;
- to encourage in children a commitment to sustainable development and an appreciation of what ‘global citizenship’ means;
- to develop a variety of other skills, including those of enquiry, problem solving, ICT, investigation and how to present their conclusions in the most appropriate way.
Quality of Education in Geography at Ley Top Primary School
Teaching and Learning
We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in our geography lessons. We believe in whole class teaching methods and we combine these with enquiry-based research activities. We encourage children to ask as well as answer geographical questions. Wherever possible, we involve the children in ‘real’ geographical activities. We recognise the fact that there are children of different abilities and we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by:
- setting common tasks which are open-ended and can have a variety of responses;
- setting tasks of varying difficulty, enabling all children to work to their full potential;
- providing a range of challenges using different resources;
- using teaching assistants to support the work of individual children or groups of children.
Geography Curriculum Planning
We use the national curriculum scheme of work for geography as the basis for our curriculum planning. We have adapted the national scheme to the local circumstances of our school. Our curriculum planning is in three phases (long-term, medium-term and short-term). Provision for geography activities is part of the overall topic planning completed for each class on a termly basis. We plan the topics in geography so that they build upon prior learning. Children of all abilities have the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge in each unit and, through planned progression built into the scheme of work, we offer them an increasing challenge as they move up the school.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
We teach geography in the EYFS as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year, relating the geographical aspects of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals. Geography makes a significant contribution to the ELG objectives of developing a child’s knowledge and understanding of the world.
Teaching Geography to children with SEN
At our school we teach geography to all children, whatever their ability. Geography forms part of the school curriculum policy to provide a broad and balanced education to all children. We enable pupils to have access to the full range of activities involved in learning about geography.
Assessment
Teachers assess children’s work in geography by making assessments as they observe them working during lessons. They record the progress that children make by assessing the children’s work against the learning targets/ skills from the national curriculum. This allows the teacher to make termly assessments of attainment and progress for each child.
Resources
We have sufficient resources and equipment in our school to be able to teach all the geography skills from the national curriculum. We have a good supply of geography topic books and access to a wide a range of educational websites to support children’s learning.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork is integral to good geography teaching and we include as many opportunities as we can to involve children in practical geographical research and enquiry. We aim to get all children to carry out an investigation into the local environment and we give them opportunities to observe and record information around the school site and beyond.
Monitoring and Review
The geography subject leader is responsible for monitoring the standard of the children’s work and the quality of teaching in geography. The geography subject leader is also responsible for supporting colleagues in the teaching of geography, for being informed about current developments in the subject, and for providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school.
Geography Overview
curriculum 22 geography overview.pdf
Links to Online Resources